Trying to decrypt
distorted text to prove we're not robots has never been easy, so Google developed a new API that simplifies the reCAPTCHA experience. The company calls the checkbox, announced Wednesday, No CAPTCHA
reCAPTCHAS.
Don't let the modest checkbox fool you, says Vinay Shet, Google product manager for reCAPTCHA. Advances in artificial intelligence prompted the move. "CAPTCHAs have long relied on
the inability of robots to solve distorted text," he wrote in a blog post. Our research recently
showed that today’s artificial intelligence technology can solve even the most difficult variant of distorted text at 99.8% accuracy. Distorted text, on its own, is no longer a
dependable test."
Google's new approach aims to make it easier for humans to click through on desktops and only requires one tap on a mobile device. The new technology analyzes user behavior
before, during, and after coming in contact with the Captcha. In cases where Google might suspects a machine, it can serve a more traditional Captcha.
Mobile users will see a small image at
the top of a screen before being prompted to select an image from a list on the screen that most resembles the other. A click in the box "I'm not a robot" slides the user through.
"Early
adopters, like Snapchat, WordPress, Humble Bundle, and several others are already seeing great results with this new API," Shet wrote. "For example, in the last week, more than 60% of WordPress
traffic and more than 80% of Humble Bundle's traffic on reCAPTCHA encountered the No CAPTCHA experience--users got to these sites faster."